The Prophecy of Gray
The Prophecy Of Gray was one of Sandwich's prophecies. It was inscribed on a panel of the wall directly opposite the door. "The Prophecy of Gray" was a prophecy that greatly troubled Sandwich because he could never foretell how the prophecy would turn out. Content The Prophecy Of Gray Beware, Underlanders, time hangs by a thread. The hunters are hunted, white water runs red. The gnawers will strike to extinguish the rest. The hope of the hopeless resides in a quest. An Overland warrior, a son of the sun, May bring us back light, he may bring us back none. But gather your neighbors and follow his call Or rats will most surely devour us all. Two over, two under, of royal descent, Two flyers, two crawlers, two spinners assent. One gnawer beside and one lost up ahead. And eight will be left when we count up the dead. The last who will die must decide where he stands. The fate of the eight is contained in his hands. So bid him take care, bid him look where he leaps, As life may be death and death life again reaps. Interpretation A warning for the coming war and Gregor's hurried quest which will be the only possible end. In the Underland, gnawers are typically considered the hunters. This was reversed when Fangor and Shed were slain on the river side and then dumped into it, turning the white water red with their blood. A reference to King Gorger and the Rats preparing for an attack against the Underlanders. The hopeless being those in regalia who fear the war or Gregor and his family thinking their father will never return can only be helped if the war is ended by Gregor retrieving his dad. An Overland warrior, a son of the sun, May bring us back light, he may bring us back none. But gather your neighbors and follow his call Or rats will most surely devour us all. The 'son of the sun' is Gregor, as both an overlander who sees the sun everyday and the son of another overlander who has also visited the Underland. This is the reason it is the prophecy of Gray, because it does not say whether or not Gregor will be successful in his quest to bring back the 'hope of the hopeless.' The neighbors are the other creatures called to join the quest. A warning that even though the quest may not be successful, without it there is no hope for anyone. Such claims are typical in Sandwiches' prophecies. Two over, two under, of royal descent, Two flyers, two crawlers, two spinners assent. One gnawer beside and one lost up ahead. And eight will be left when we count up the dead. The two over are two overlanders, Gregor and Boots. Two under(landers) of royal descent are Luxa and Henry. The two fliers are the bonds of Luxa and Henry, Aurora and Ares. Two crawlers are Temp and Tick. Two spinners are Gox and Treflex. The prophecy specifies that they must 'assent,' which stops the humans from just stealing the bugs who originally did not want to come. The gnawer is Ripred. The lost is Gregor's father. With twelve in total, that adds up to four dead. These four end up being Gox, Tick, Treflex, and Henry. The last who will die must decide where he stands. The fate of the eight is contained in his hands. So bid him take care, bid him look where he leaps, As life may be death and death life again reaps. The final stanza refers to both Henry and Gregor. Henry was the last to die. He decided to stand with the rats. Henry's decision of loyalties would have put the eight to death, but Gregor, believing he was the last to die, took their fate in his own hands by acting as bait for the rats army and drawing them away. Henry failed to take care by being a traitor. He also fails to look where he leaps, blindly following the rats and King Gorger over the fall to his death. Gregor 'looked,' because even though he took the fall, he did it to save his friends. The final line has a somewhat questionable meaning. 'Death life again reaps' refers to Henry who made a bad decision. But it could also mean that when Henry died, Gregor and the others survived, so then 'life reaped'. 'Life may be death' could also refer to this because his life was death after the fall, or it could refer to the hardship his dishonesty put Luxa and Ares's lives through. More optimistically, while it was put in no uncertain terms that someone would die, 'life MAY be death' could just be telling what would happen if the quest was failed. Appearances * Gregor the Overlander * Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane Notes and references Gray, The Prophecy of